Their Time Before
by jandjsalmon
Summary: Following the war Adrian Pucey was looking for something. He found her in Iceland and lost her in the same day. Adrian Pucey/Melinda Bobbin. One of many jandjsalmon/airmidm colabs written in 2007/2008.


**Title/Authors:** Their Time Before (1/1) by jandjsalmon and airmidm  
**Summary:** Following the war Adrian Pucey was looking for something. He found her in Iceland and lost her in the same day.  
**Pairing:** Adrian Pucey/Melinda Bobbin  
**Rating/Warnings/Notes:** NC17 - The back story for Adrian and Lindy at aurlud. It's not necessary to read anything there to enjoy this though. And I warn you - I sobbed while writing so I encourage the use of tissues.

**Their Time Before**

The only reason Lindy Bobbin agreed to pose for Mæja's art class in the first place is because her friend had owled the night before, half-hysterical and sobbing in broken English, certain that she was going to lose her commission at the art school if she didn't find a replacement for the flake of an acting student who was hired to do it.

The fact that she was to post _nude_ hadn't been explained to her until right before she stepped out in front of the small class in Reykjavik. She wasn't exactly _shy_ but she didn't usually make a habit out of dropping trou for thirty strangers either.

Adrian looked up from where he'd been laying out his supplies and froze. The model was gorgeous and she had the most intriguing facial tattoo he'd ever seen. He tipped his head, picked up a piece of charcoal and began sketching, not once taking his eyes off of her.

Lindy could feel someone's eyes on her and instinctively turned toward them. It was odd, because the man had already started to draw and she hadn't yet dropped the sheet that was wrapped around her. His gaze was steady, like he was looking inside her and immediately she knew that she knew him. Instead of making her embarrassed, it made her nervousness melt away. _His brown eyes made her think of home._

As she kept her eyes on him she found it very easy to stand before the rest of them when Mæja instructed her to lower the robe. To Lindy there wasn't any one else in the room.

Adrian simply drew, almost drinking in the woman's face, her bright and lively eyes, and that gorgeous tattoo not once truly looking down at his work. When the session was called to a close, he finally snapped out of it, walking up toward the woman, wiping his hands as he went. "Miss?" he asked, keeping his eyes on her face.

Clutching at the sheet in front of her, Lindy stepped off the slight stage Mæja had erected for her, only to bump into the man who'd looked so intently at her. Her friend looked prepared to beat him off if he was propositioning her - that sometimes happened to nude models - but Lindy held her other hand out and Mæja stopped her press forward.

"You speak English?" she asked softly, hardly believing that she was speaking at all least of all to him.

"I do, as do you," he said hesitantly, still trying to put a name to the face- and voice. He could swear he knew her from somewhere. "You're a Brit too?"

She nodded slowly. "I am. Though I live here now." _Why do I know you?_

"Why?" he said, then shook his head. "Excuse my rudeness, I should let you get dressed first."

Lindy tilted her head at his question. She used to hear it all the time and she'd always given the automatic answer her father had drilled into her. _Cultural opportunities._ And yet, she almost felt compelled to tell him about the war. About 'He Who Must Not Be Named'. About Magic. About herself - really - but she didn't, and because Mæja heard the last part of his statement she managed to pull her into the change room before Lindy could say anything at all.

Though she changed as quickly as she could, Lindy felt a sudden tugging at her heart, certain that the man wouldn't be there when she stepped out. She'd chosen to wear a colourful linen short dress and as she slipped on her bright blue shoes she frowned at herself in the mirror. She'd just walked off and would probably never see him again. There was no reason to be disappointed, but she _was_ - her heart hurt at the very thought.

She was sure the look on her face spelled surprise when the dark, brooding stranger who'd been carrying a long strapped messenger bag full of what must have been his supplies though it hardly looked large enough was leaning against the oak coloured wall waiting for her.

"You're still here," she said, unable to control the relief in her voice or the smile spreading across her face.

"I've never been deemed a gentleman, but Mother always tried to raise me properly. May I take you for a cup of tea or something?" There was something about the woman before him that made him think of home, of magic, of all the things he'd been denied for almost two years- while he rotted away in Azkaban after his trial.

She didn't know why she felt compelled to accept, but even when Mæja came and gave her a perfectly good 'out', Lindy agreed to get a cup of tea with the man. He didn't _look_ dangerous - at least not knife-wielding dangerous and she did have her wand in case she needed it. In fact, if she could think of a word to describe him she would have said_lost_.

In her head, she told herself that all she was interested in was finding out what he'd stopped to talk to her about after the art class and what he'd managed to find about her that seemed so captivating to draw, but it was hard to justify that idea when every time she looked into his brown eyes she felt breathless.

It was drizzling outside so they didn't go far, stepping into the little coffee shop down the corner from the community centre and both sat down across from one another. The way he smiled when the waitress brought his tea reminded her of someone she'd long forgotten. It was like a long lost memory. The smile hadn't reached his eyes, but hinted that the man in front of her had been happy once. A boy she'd never spoken to before but who she'd once known on sight. Years of watching him across the Great Hall and in shared classes where they were never to speak.

"You're Adrian." It was more of a statement than a question. Still, she sat across from him tilting her head as though she was uncertain but the longer she stared the more sure she was. He'd changed -that much was certain- but it was still him.

"I am," he said, tipping his head and picturing the woman before him without the tattoo. It was then that he could remember a name to go with the face. She'd been a Claw. _Pure_, his mind supplied helpfully. "And you're Melinda. Lindy."

"I am," she said in a tone very much like his own. Tentative. Searching. He knew her. _She_ knew him - _remembered_him. "I wasn't expecting anyone from home."

"I wasn't either," he admitted quietly. "I'm glad I was wrong though. You didn't run screaming- something I'm not used to. Why is that? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"Why am I not running?" Lindy looked up and tried to explain it but didn't know how to say the right words. "I suppose because I know I'm not important enough to garner attention from someone truly dark, no matter what they said after the war."

"I'm torn between telling you just how dark I am which will send you running and being selfish and asking you to stay and talk with me, no matter how dark I may or may not be in your eyes."

"I'm not going anywhere." Lindy said seriously, turning her attention to the napkin sitting beside her plate. He wasn't dark. He was lovely.

"Thank you." He meant that too. It felt really good to sit with her and talk with someone so good, clean, and _pure_. "If I remember correctly, you were sent away during the war, yes?"

"After I was finished school. You finished before me. My father sent me here to be safe with my sister and I've just not gone home yet. I don't know if I'll ever go home." Lindy's eyes turned to his and she marvelled how he would know that at all. "Why did you come here?"

"To escape, to figure out what to do with myself now..." He shrugged and blurted, "I don't know what I'm doing. Or where I fit now, if I fit."

Unconsciously, Lindy moved her hand to his hoping to give him some sort of comfort if that was even at all possible. "You do. I'm sure you do," she said soothingly. "There's no point escaping. Everything that happens to us makes us who we are and everything we run from follows us."

He squeezed her hand lightly. "It amazes me that you can _touch_ me without cringing. You're one of a kind, in the best way possible." He gave her a little half smile. "I have to ask since the tat intrigues me, why did you do it?"

He'd done nothing to warrant her cringing but she didn't think he'd believe her if she explained that. "You don't even know me. I might be the commonest witch you'll ever see. Perhaps that was one of the reasons I got it done. To make me something special - someone unique - someone people remember."

"I find that difficult to believe." He stood and held out his hand, having noticed the rain had stopped. "Would you consent to spending the rest of the day with me, Lindy?"

She looked outside at the sun trying to peek out from the clouds and nodded. As nervous as she felt, she couldn't think of anything she wanted to do more than spend the day with the wizard across from her. He fascinated her, but it was so much more than that. It felt like kismet that they would find one another there - both so far from home.

He took her hand and helped her up. "Will you show me your favourite places to go?"

He didn't let go of her hand when she got to her feet, and she instinctively entwined their fingers together. They walked across the Austuvöllur hand in hand before she realized what time it was and looked up at him. "I have to go home really quickly. Will you come with me?" she asked him, biting her lip and suddenly feeling unsure of herself.

"You trust me to enter your home?" he asked disbelievingly. Gently, he reached up and tucked a loose lock of hair behind her ear. "I would love to."

Lindy ducked her head and blushed. "It's in Old Reykjavik. Can I Apparate us? Do you mind?"

"I don't mind at all," he assured her softly.

With a twist of her wand, the pair immediately reappeared in front of a quaint little red house and Lindy blushed again. "I promised Mrs. Thornhildsdottir to feed her menagerie of pets. Her kneazle is very particular about having lunch on time." She looked at him with a crooked smile. "I bet you didn't think you'd be here when you walked into that art class this morning."

"Being here is so much better than where I thought I'd be," he said, looking at the bright red house with a wide smile. "Do you mind if a do a quick sketch of the house?"

"You want to sketch my house?" she asked, tilting her head and giving him a quirky grin as they came in the side door. Every second - every minute she spent with him she felt more comfortable.

"I do. I'd not mind sketching you again as well." He would have been embarrassed had they been having this conversation three years ago, but after Azkaban it seemed his ability to be embarrassed by anything was gone. "Not nude, but just how you are- smiling just like that."

She laughed. "One nude sketch is enough, then? I hope it wasn't that horrible. I don't make a habit of doing that, I swear."

He pulled out his sketch pad and handed it to her. "Take a look. Please."

"This is beautiful, Adrian," Lindy said quietly. Though she'd stood in front of him without a stitch of clothing he'd not drawn that. "It's so beautiful."

"I draw what I see," he said simply.

"But it's just my face. You saw... _everything else_ but it's just my face."

He cautiously lifted his hand to her face, his thumb brushing lightly over her cheek. "It was your eyes, your smile, just _you_ that caught my attention, not whether you were clothed or nude."

Lindy could feel her heart beating loudly in her ears. It was as though time had slowed and before she could even stop herself, she leaned forward and closed the distance between them. She pressed her lips to his for only a split second, but when she pulled back her mouth dropped open and she just about apologized for being so forward when he kissed her again.

Adrian finally broke the kiss. "If you're going to hex me, let me set my bag aside first." He wasn't ashamed of kissing her, but he was concerned that she'd feel he had overstepped.

"Why would I hex you?" she asked him, her brow furrowing. Hadn't she started it? Couldn't he see she wanted to kiss him? She'd liked kissing him.

"I overstepped, didn't I? I just couldn't stop myself from kissing you again- didn't want to stop at all actually."

She visibly relaxed and put her hand on his chest. "Then why did you?" She leaned forward, inviting him to do it again but not wanting to put him in a position that he was uncomfortable with.

He covered her hand with his own and leaned down to kiss her again, stopping just shy. "I've been accused of many things, but taking something from a woman that she doesn't want me to- even a kiss- isn't one of those things and never will be."

Lindy nodded, knowing full well what he was meaning. "What about taking what is freely given?"

"That I have no problem with," Adrian said, kissing her softly, his arms wrapped around her as he lost himself in the feelings she stirred in him.

She felt his tongue trace the seams of her lips and she gladly opened to him, kissing him back with just as much passion as he was pouring into her. They were moving backward and before she realized what she was doing, she was pawing at the buttons on his shirt, pulling it out from where it tucked in his trousers.

For a brief second she stilled her hand and looked up at him with scared blue eyes. Everything they'd been dancing around was building up to that moment. She didn't want to stop but she wanted him to be there _with_ her. Wanting it as much as she did. This man she didn't know - the boy she hardly remembered. She wanted him to cling to her as much as she was clinging to him.

Adrian slipped her dress off, tossing it over his shoulder. "I want you so much. Will you let me have you?"

Her heart flipped a bit and she pulled him up the stairs to her bedroom in answer. She paused to kiss him half way up and giggled lightly when she saw her reflection in the mirror in the hallway. She still had her bright blue shoes on. At least she'd been smart enough to wear the matching bra and knicker set. Her creamy white skin looked even whiter against the blue.

"Do you know how gorgeous you are?" he asked, stepping up and wrapping his arms around her looking at their reflection. "You're so bright, so full of life."

She made a face and shook her head at him. She didn't want to talk about that or correct him with how ordinary she was. She just wanted his hands all over her.

He lowered his mouth to her neck as he moved them up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to lay her out on the bed and learn every curve of her body.

Opening the door behind her, Lindy backed into her bedroom and turned so his back was to the bed. Slowly, she unfastened each of his buttons until she could push his shirt off his shoulders. She would have thought he would have lost his muscle definition while in Azkaban, but he hadn't.

Tracing her fingers down his chest she let them rest at his belt. "Do you have any idea how gorgeous you are?" she echoed what he'd said earlier, meaning every word as she drank him in.

"Not nearly as much as you are," he whispered, making quick work of her bra, lifting her and setting her on the edge of the bed, dropping to his knees before her. "Let me touch you, taste you, Lindy?"

She helped him slide the blue lace of her knickers to the floor and then audibly gasped when he gently opened her thighs and lowered his head. Her fingers tangled in his hair and as she laid back she couldn't help but moan his name.

He pressed a light kiss on her thigh, then one on her hip, before touching and tasting her. Her hands fisting in his hair had him moaning as he worshipped her body.

Lindy felt her back arch on the bed and her toes curled as he brought her closer and closer to completion with his tongue. The sensations running through her body were indescribable, erupting like geysers making the world fall down all around her.

Hearing her cry out was nearly enough to send _him_ over the edge with her and it was with a great deal of satisfaction that Adrian slid up her body and covered her mouth with his.

Breathlessly, she kissed him back. Her eyes rolled back into her head when she tasted herself on him and all she could do was nip his bottom lip and scratch her fingernails down his shoulder. "Please, Adrian," she whimpered, still keening against him. "Please."

"Please what?" he asked huskily. "Tell me what you want, Lindy."

"Please," she gasped almost urgently against his mouth as she raked her hands against him trying to pull him closer. "Please make love to me. I want you to. I want to feel you."

He slid his trousers off quickly, before moving back over her, taking a moment to memorize everything about the gorgeous woman laid out on the bed. Gently, he ran his hand up the back of her leg, and then wrapping it around his waist as he slid into her slowly.

Lindy gasped. It had never felt like this before. With each thrust she felt the fire within her building and building up once more. Her hands moved of their own accord, sliding up his back and tangling and tugging on his hair, urging him on and showing him just how much she liked what he was doing to her.

"Lindy," he moaned, struggling to keep the pace steady and make sure she got as much pleasure as she could before he took his. It was just that it had just been _so_ long and she felt perfect. "You feel so good."

She leaned up to kiss his mouth hard as she felt herself tumbling over the edge once more. Her breathing hitched, but all she wanted was for him to come undone with her. "Come for me, Adrian. Please," she pleaded, her nails scratching across his nipple as the moan at the back of her throat got louder and louder and it overtook anything that she might have said or done.

"Yes!" he cried out, unable to control his movements and driven by the overwhelming feelings she'd brought to life in him. He barely caught himself, flexing his arms as not to crush her. He dipped his head down to kiss her slowly, not wanting to move yet.

Lindy traced his lips with her tongue, sharing his breath and being fully part of this man she hardly knew felt..._right_ - like she was meant to be with him. She wanted to show him just how much but didn't know how.

He shifted, laying next to her but pulling her back into his arms. He didn't know what to say, if anything could be said that would explain all things he was feeling so he simply held her close.

They lay there without words for a long while. Lindy traced her fingers up and down his bare arm as she tried to piece together what exactly had happened between them. She looked up at him with a crooked grin and was about to ask him if he still wanted a guided tour of the city before she sat bolt upright. "Mrs. Thornhildsdottir's kneazle!"

He gently pulled her back down with him, kissing her softly. "Do you want me to get dressed and go down with you or stay here? The choice is yours, pet."

Lindy was torn between feeling her responsibility to the poor beast next door and her fear that she'd return and find that he was just a figment of her imagination. "You'll be here when I get back, right?" she whispered, her lips mere inches from his as she tried to drink in every part of him in case it was all a dream - the way he smelled - the way he tasted - _everything_.

He kissed her quickly but firmly. "I promise that I'll be here."

Lindy grabbed his dress shirt off the floor and found her knickers on the desk chair. Wearing just those, she Apparated into her neighbour's home and set about feeding the pets as fast as she could possibly move. Rushing around the old witches kitchen, she felt like crying. Not even the security of wearing the shirt that belonged to him was enough to make her believe that it had all been real.

She probably hadn't even taken a breath from when she'd left him until she stepped back into her bedroom and found him there waiting for her. It was impossible to explain what there was between them, but she only knew she'd be devastated if he'd been gone.

Practically throwing herself on him, Lindy straddled the poor bloke on the bed, kissing him over and over again and pawing at the buttons on her shirt. She wanted to touch every part of him and even the light fabric was in the way.

Adrian didn't mind in the least that she'd launched herself at him but he did mind that she seemed to be very upset. He stilled her hands. "Here, let me get those for you. I'm here," he said softly. "I promised and I don't make promises unless I know I'm going to do everything in my power to keep them."

Lindy bowed her head as the dress shirt dropped to the floor behind her. She felt immediately ridiculous for worrying though it was more of a combination of both need and embarrassment that her first reaction when she saw him was to want to fuck him until he couldn't move - couldn't _leave_. "I'm so sorry. I'm not usually like this. Really, I'm not."

"Shh," he said, one hand rubbing her back and the other cupping her face. "I know you aren't. There is something about you. Something vibrant and _alive_, something I can't name, something unique only to you, Lindy. I just know that I want to be here, be with you even though I don't deserve to be."

"You deserve this," Lindy whispered as she leaned forward to kiss him again, this time ghosting against his lips. Her erect nipples rubbed against his chest setting her to moan and grind her hips against his lap. "I don't think I've wanted anyone -_anything_ more than I want you. I can't explain it, I don't even know how to begin. I just want every part of you. I want to show you how good life can be."

Adrian vanished her knickers and lowered her down on him with a low groan. "You have every part of me. Give me every part of you, Lindy. I don't deserve such a gift but I want it-want you- so badly that I'll be a selfish bastard about this."

Lindy gasped as he filled her completely. She found herself moving on top of him at a frenzied pace as every one of her nerve endings were screaming his name. She wanted him to be selfish. She wanted him to possess her. It was the only way she could see to make this unquenchable fire that he caused within her to be satisfied.

With one hand massaging her breast, the other tangled in his hair, pulling his head down to taste her neck. She could feel her orgasm coming and she wanted him to share that power with her. She whispered a few words in Ancient Icelandic and the room erupted in silver spark as old magic fused between them to allow both to feel the pleasure of the other.

Adrian felt the magic and nearly came right then and there. He could feel their magic twisting together, he could feel what she felt and it was intoxicating. Nothing he'd ever felt was anywhere near this good.

She thought she might go right out of her mind. Even as she was moving on her knees, feeling so much pleasure she couldn't even describe it, she also felt an overpowering weight of something she didn't understand. Devastating sadness deep within him. It gripped her heart, but didn't stop the intense feelings welling up from the bottom of her spine all the way through her back. She felt herself clenching around him and threw her head back in pleasure.

He struggled to hold on until he heard her cry out and allowed himself to follow after her. Holding her close, he laid them both back and kissed her gently.

"You're real and you're here with me," she breathed with a small smile as she looked into his brown eyes. After a long time she whispered, "Why are you so sad?"

"My life hasn't been all rosy and cheerful the past few years," he said softly.

Her eyes clouded. She could only imagine what he'd had to face in that dark place and it hurt her to even think of it. She gently placed a kiss on the nearest part of skin to her. "I can help you forget."

"Just being here with me is enough." In fact, he couldn't help but wonder if he was dreaming all of this, that he'd got lost in his own mind again. "With you here I can almost believe that the colours will stay, that everything won't go black and white again."

Lindy blushed and entwined their hands together. "Well, I'm not going anywhere. Not without you anyway. Have you always been able to draw like that?"

"According to my mother I have. I can't honestly remember a time before Azkaban that I wasn't drawing almost every minute."

"You used to draw at school? I don't remember that. All I remember are flashes of you in your Quidditch kit over breakfast in the Great Hall," Lindy said with a silly grin. "Unattainable and broody, even then."

"Had I only known that I would've actually spoken to you. I don't think I ever considered myself unattainable to you."

"To me?" she asked with a cynical laugh as her brow furrowed. "How did you have any clue who I was? It wasn't like I was anything exceptional. Even now, it was _this_ that drew your attention." With a few muttered words of a spell, the charcoal on her face vanished and it became as though she'd never had the facial art done at all. It was something her father had insisted on her learning. The symbols on her face had been near mortifying to him when he'd come to visit her and Randi the year before. "Now, I'm just like everyone else," she said slowly as she raised up to rest her chin on Adrian's chest.

"You aren't, that's just it." He was insistent because he meant every word. "There was always something about you that caught my attention."

Lindy nearly snorted, feeling much more jaded than usual. _That_ was something different. Maybe the magic they'd just shared entwined their personalities as well as their feelings. She sat up, said the counter charm out loud to clear the glamour from her face, and looked down at him. "Did you want me to show you Reykjavik? It's a beautiful city."

"So long as while you show me the city, you allow me to try and show you that I was being honest." He brushed a hand over her bare cheek. "How can you not see what I do?"

She ducked her head and whispered. "You don't even know me."

He tipped her chin up and kissed her gently. "Then let me get to know you better. Will that help erase that sad look out of your eyes?"

When he kissed her it was like breathing new life into her and she managed to smile as she pulled back. "I want you to know everything about me. Will you share with me what _you_ are?"

He held out his arm, showing her the Mark. "If you'll have me."

The woman looked down at what he was offering her. Her fingers traced down his arm until they pressed against the solid black lines. In an instant she felt everything he had when he'd received it. Pride. Pain. Power. The mark, that usually spelt _fear_ to her suddenly meant those other things as well. Without even thinking about it, Lindy lowered her head and lay a long drawn out kiss on the scorched skin. Her heart started pounding as she traced it with her tongue.

"Lindy," he moaned, burying a hand in her hair, not to guide her but just so he could touch as he watched her touch and lick his Mark. "I'm going to have to have you in the shower if you keep that up."

"If you thought that would deter me you're wrong," she answered simply. Her unoccupied hand moved down her abdomen and moved on to the crevice between her own thighs. She'd never thought a Dark Mark would be so erotic, but his was.

Adrian watched her with hooded eyes until he couldn't stand it a moment longer. He stood with her in his arms into the loo where he murmured a spell to get the water started and then leaning her up against the wall of the shower, he sheathed himself inside of her roughly.

His urgency had her reeling. Over and over again he thrust himself into her and Lindy could do little else but moan and writhe and claw at his bare shoulders. Never in her life had she wanted someone so badly. Her desire for him didn't cease after making love to him, it only intensified every time.

"Adrian, yes!" she screamed as the water poured over them. Her back slid against the wet wall and she was certain that there would be no need to leave that bedroom. She could die happy if only he would fuck her harder.

He could feel something that urged him on, to thrust harder and harder until she screamed over and over again.

He had to be bleeding from where her nails scraped down his shoulders, but she literally said in her head, 'I'll heal him later'.

"What have you done to me, Adrian?" she finally whispered, completely exhausted against his chest as the water grew cooler.

"Worshipped you as you were meant to be," he whispered, reaching for the shampoo. "Will you let me wash you before all of the hot water is gone?"

She nodded and then bit back the moan in the back of her throat as he slid his hands into her hair and rubbed himself against her. "Why did you come here, Adrian? Why _here_? You said you were escaping. That you didn't fit. What made you come to me in Iceland?"

"It was the opposite direction of Britain," he admitted reluctantly. "I'm not a coward though. I never turned in my mates. I wouldn't- not for anything."

"I know," she said simply - and she _did_ know. She didn't know how, but Adrian Pucey was no longer a mystery to her. It was as though she had a connection - she could tell that he would never betray those he held dear. He'd told her when he made a promise he did everything in his power to keep that promise and she knew he'd told her the truth.

"I ran away," she said softly as the water dripped down her hair and into her face.

"Did you want to fight?" he asked, washing her arm and then squeezing her hand lightly. The emotions he was feeling were a tangle and all he knew was that he most definitely didn't think she'd run away.

"No, but a lot of good people got hurt while I stayed here in comfort and safety," she said sorrowfully as she traced a finger down his arm to where it rested on his Dark Mark.

"If you didn't want to fight then you strategically retreated from the field, you didn't run away. There is a difference."

"You didn't retreat." Lindy looked up at him, trying to read what was going on behind his deep brown eyes. "Do you regret it? Any of it?"

"No, not at all. But I _wanted_ to fight. I wanted to bring order back to our world." His tone was firm and animated. "I was honoured to stand side by side with my mates and fight for the rights of the purebloods. After all it is _our_ world."

"Return order to our world," she repeated after him quietly as she looked at her hands.

"Lindy, look at me please," he asked gently. "Please."

Heart pumping loudly in her ears, Lindy slowly met his gaze. She knew how strongly Adrian and his friends must have felt to fight for their cause the way that they did. She couldn't fathom believing in something so strongly to be willing to die for it. While she didn't understand his reasons, it was humbling to be in the presence of someone who believed in something so strongly.

"It wasn't your cause, your fight, I know that. I don't think any less of you and I hope you don't think less of me."

She shook her head. "Never." And she meant it. There was nothing in the world that could make her think less of him - not now that should could _feel_ him.

"Then just know that I would never think less of you either. All right?"

Though the water pouring over them was near ice cold, Lindy didn't feel it. She leaned forward and innocently captured his mouth with hers.

He kissed her back and then helped her out of the shower and wrapped one of the large towels around her snugly. Brushing her mouth with his, he recharmed the water and hopped back in to wash quickly.

"Where are you taking me today, pet?" he asked as he rinsed off and stepped back out of the shower.

"I'll take you anywhere you'd like to go, Adrian," Lindy said, now wearing dark pink knickers and pulling a near white slip-dress from her wardrobe.

"Show me your very favourite place?" he asked, stepping back out into the bedroom with a towel wrapped loosely around his hips.

She looked up at him and nearly swallowed her tongue. It would be corny to say that her new favourite place was wherever he was at that precise moment - especially after less than a day together - so she smiled instead. "Have you been to the National Gallery yet?"

"No, not yet, but I'm looking forward to it," he said, pulling on his shirt and running a hand through his hair. Then he looked around. "Where are my trousers?"

Lindy looked over her bedroom and couldn't help but almost giggle at the state of it. It was clear as crystal that what they'd spent the day doing. She picked his jeans up from where he'd thrown them at the end of her bed and walked to him.

She stood closer than she probably needed to, invading his space and pressing herself against him. Turning her face up to him, Lindy kissed him softly. "Right here."

Wrapping his arms around her, he groaned and kissed her back. Reluctantly, he broke the kiss, murmuring against her mouth, "I should get dressed so we can go, though I definitely want to have you again later. Will you allow me to, pet?"

"Over and over and over again," she said happily, stepping back to give him some room. She pointed her wand at her hair to charm it dry and stepped into her favourite pair of dark pink flats before watching Adrian pull on his last boot.

"Do you need a jacket or a wrap?" He stood and held his hand out for hers. "It looks like it may rain again."

Accioing a cardigan almost as long as her dress, Lindy took his hand and felt warm all over. "Even in the rain, I think we'll be fine. It's not far."

He squeezed her hand lightly. "You lead, I follow."

They walked hand in hand all the way to the tall stone building that housed the Icelandic National Gallery. It faced the Tjorn - an ancient pond that lay just to the north of the old city right in the heart of Reykjavik.

After spending hours wandering around completely enraptured in each other and the art that surrounded them, they walked around the pond and fed the swans from a bag Lindy bought for a few krónur from an old lady sitting on a bench by the water.

It was starting to get cooler as the sun was setting.

"Are you getting hungry? We could go to the Perlan if you like," Lindy asked him as he wrapped his arms around her. "Or we could go home. I could cook for you."

"I'd love to go home with you. I'm a dismal cook though, so I'll not be much help." He held her close and kissed her brow. "I've had the best day in a long time, pet. I don't know that I want it to end anytime soon."

Lindy grinned. "I'm a _very_ good teacher and days like this don't have to end at all."

He widened his eyes playfully, leaning back just enough to look her in the eyes. "You'll have to watch me close so I don't burn anything- or myself. You ready to go home?"

She nodded, happily letting him Apparate them back to the front parlour of her little red house. "Home. We're_home_," she repeated his words, grinning to herself, as she lay her cardigan on the back of the sofa. "Where are you staying while you're here? Do you know how long you're going to stay?"

He smiled at her assertion and then frowned. "I'm staying at a little hotel that's off the beaten path and I don't know how long I'll be here. I was told to get my head on straight- so I'm travelling to try and do so. This- here with you- is the first time I've felt good since leaving the island."

"It may be the first time, but it doesn't have to stop feeling good, right? You could get your head on straight with me all the time?"

He nodded shakily, holding out his hand. "Here with you is the only place I want to be. I'd forgotten what 'good' felt like and you centre me in a way I can't explain properly."

"Well, then you'll have to stay until you can explain it," she said, softly resting her hand in his.

"That could take a while," he said, twining their fingers together and looking her in the eye. "I could end up like a stray kneazle that never wants to leave once you let it in."

"As long as I don't forget to feed you." Lindy grinned. "The kneazle next door didn't seem too keen on me this afternoon. I might have to think twice about offering to tend Mrs. Thornhiddotter's pets when you're here to distract me."

"I excel that the poor pitiful me look so I don't think you'd forget to feed me, that is unless I just kept you in my arms and didn't want to let you go."

"Then I might forget?" she teased as she pulled him into her kitchen. "I'll have to be sure to make lots so you can eat after you make love to me again. Does that sound like a solid plan?"

"That sounds perfect," he said, leaning forward and lightly nipping at her neck. "So, what are we eating?"

Lindy let her head fall back as she took a sharp intake of air when he pressed his mouth against her skin. "Anything you want," she said breathlessly.

"You," he requested, nipping and suckling down her neck slowly.

Lindy leaned into him, tugging at the short hair at the back of his neck, clawing her nails into his skin and pressing herself against him.

He lifted her onto the counter and quickly pulled her white slip dress over her head leaving her dressed only in pink knickers. Gasping, he ducked his head to taste her, loving that she allowed him to touch her.

She very nearly fell off the counter. He did things to her that she couldn't even describe. "Oh, Adrian. Yes, Adrian. Yes!"

He didn't stop until he had to grip her hips as she screamed his name over and over again. Slowly standing, he grinned at her flushed cheeks and cloudy eyes. "Can I have you now or shall I wait 'til after we have dinner?"

Out of breath, but not nearly sated, Lindy grabbed his shirt and pulled his mouth down to hers to kiss him roughly. "I want now _and_ after," she murmured as she bit his bottom lip hard.

"As you wish," he murmured flipping open the fly of his jeans and wrapped her legs around his waist snugly.

He entered her roughly and she couldn't stop herself from gasping out loud. Even though it was hardly the first time - not even the first time that day - it still felt as though they'd been made for one another.

Grasping her hips tightly, Adrian pulled her onto him at a near-frenzied pace and Lindy's toes curled at the sensations that he caused within her.

She reached up and licked a bead of sweat off his neck before nipping at where it met his shoulder. Nothing had ever felt this good.

He quickened his pace, loving the feel of her teeth on his skin and her nails down his arm.

Unable to stop herself - and quite honestly not even trying - Lindy rested her head against his shoulder, holding him tightly as stars exploded behind her eyes over and over again.

Adrian wasn't far behind, laying his cheek on the top of her head as he caught his breath. "I like not being able to keep my hands to myself with you. Though, I think we're going to need food."

"To keep our strength up?" she asked with a giggle that she hadn't felt free enough to use for years.

"Oh, most definitely, I think there are a couple of places we need to christen after dinner. Sound good to you?"

Lindy nodded and kissed him chastely. Nervously she asked him, "Do you want to go get your things while I make us something to eat? You know, a better utilization of our time and that way you can stay with me as long as you want to?"

He gaped for a moment and then kissed her fiercely. "That sounds perfect."

Breathlessly, Lindy pushed herself off the kitchen counter to stand before him, her whole heart and soul bared to him. "The wards are tuned to you now. I'll make Makkarónumjólk. It'll be ready before you get back," she said with a small grin. "And hurry. I need to take a shower and it would be highly convenient if you happened to arrive in time to join me."

He grinned, buttoning up his jeans and kissing her quickly and running a finger down her cheek lightly. "I'll hurry, I promise. There's no place I'd rather be than here with you. I won't be long, pet."

Lindy took a sudden in-take of breath when he Apparated away. The house suddenly felt gloomy. Like every tiny bit of joy was sucked from it when he'd left her. She frowned at herself for being silly, and set to work making dinner. He would be back soon and she wanted to have everything sorted by the time her joy returned.

Adrian reappeared just inside his hotel room door and immediately cussed. Three of Iceland's Aurors were standing there like a wall and his belongings- what he'd not left at Lindy's- were neatly packed at their feet. Ten minutes later he was being escorted out of the country and told that if he stepped foot in Iceland again he would have the opportunity to compare their prison to Azkaban. When he arrived home at Ashdown, he even tried Flooing only to find it blocked. Frustrated, he cursed two of the elves before calming down enough to owl Lindy explaining what had happened. He only hoped the owl made it through.

When he didn't come back, Lindy started to worry. What if something had happened? She didn't even know what hotel he was staying at - there were plenty of hotels 'off the beaten path' on the island. She tried not to think the worst despite the fear that gripped her heart.

She waited for the rest of the evening, not moving from where she'd perched herself on the sofa with her arms wrapped around her knees, tears running freely down her face.

When the sun came up the next morning and still nothing, she Floo'd Mæja who explained to her that the art class had been a drop-in where students weren't required to register with the school with anything other than their entrance fee and their name. Lindy couldn't even remember where in England he was from - though even if she had it wasn't like she could Floo over there to find him - maybe this was his way of being done with her. She hadn't thought him that sort - he was _different_ - but Mæja and Randi kept saying he must have been. It had been an awfully good time - maybe promises of forever were just what he told the women he spent a full day shagging. It nearly broke her heart to think that and when she found the sketch he'd done of her on the nightstand beside her bed she didn't bother holding it in - she just broke to pieces.

Adrian paced for days, until the owl was returned unopened and with a note on the front reminding him that even his owls weren't welcome in Iceland and he simply broke. Concerned, his parents made him master of Foxland and settled him in where he could draw and paint without interruption though his father insisted he speak to Malcolm Davis about a job at Bowman Wright- which he was offered and taken simply to have a reason to leave his estate. No matter what he did, how many owls he sent or even _who_ he had send the owls, Lindy either never got them or never replied. It was only the memory of the day they spent together and the feelings she stirred in him that kept him form going completely insane.

Her friends told her she was a different person now. Where once she'd been free - the type to dance in the sunshine or go skinny dipping without hesitation, she was now prone to sullen moments - more likely to give friends a small smile and then some excuse for staying in. They didn't realize that part of her - the best part of her - was gone. She'd shared it with him and lost it forever.

When she found out she was pregnant her life changed. In the weeks since Adrian had left her, she'd retreated more and more into herself until she was certain there was no reason to go on at all. Baldr was the only person who could have pulled her out of her stupor. A tiny little creature that was part of _him_ who was totally dependent on her and who would love her unconditionally and never leave her.

She knew that the only way she was going to get out from under her father's thumb was by taking all her pent up creativity to put it to good use. Her sister encouraged her to sell the designs she'd started making when she was in her self-induced exile and her designer jewelry business took off. She was a success but if it weren't for Baldr then it would be meaningless.

The branch in London was what brought her back to England - that and the desire to bring Baldr up at _home_. She bought a Georgian townhouse in Vauxhall and managed to withstand the randy estate agent's advances right through the papers being signed.

Her figure had returned and she was beginning to attract attention from men like that again but something was always missing. A giant part of her that had been gouged out by being young and trusting and... well and _in love_. She only came close to that feeling when she lay in bed thinking about how his fingers had felt when he'd touched her - when she found release calling his name when she touched herself.

She'd long since put away the bag he'd left at her flat full of charcoals and coloured pencils, refusing to just bin it and loathing herself for keeping it. The sketch was framed and put opposite her bed to remind her never to be so foolish again.


End file.
